ERNE, FRANK CABINET CARD (JOHN WOOD)

HISTORY: Frank Erne (January 8, 1875 -“ September 17, 1954) was a Swiss born American boxer widely credited with taking the World Featherweight Championship on November 27, 1896 from George Dixon in New York City, as well as the World Lightweight Championship from George "Kid" Lavigne on July 3, 1899, in Buffalo, New York. Late in his career he would contend for the World Welterweight Title against Rube Ferns. Erne began to fight professionally by October 27, 1892 when he defeated John Roy at the Buffalo Athletic Club in New York in a fourth round knockout, showing that he was not a boxer who lacked punching ability when the opportunity arose. The fight was billed as the Featherweight Championship of Western New York and paid the winner the princely sum of $250 according to the Buffalo Courier. Erne had defeated Roy by TKO one month earlier in Buffalo. Erne first met World Featherweight Champion George Dixon in a ten round draw on December 5, 1895 at the Manhattan Athletic Club in New York City. Two weeks later he fought well known Australian boxer "Young Griffo", an 1890 Featherweight World Champion, at the Music Hall in Buffalo. According to the New York Sun, Griffo, to the frustration of the crowd, dominated the brief four round draw from the start and neither boxer put much effort into the fight. Erne took the World Featherweight Title from Canadian born American Black boxer George Dixon on November 27, 1896 at the Broadway Athletic Club in New York in a twenty round points decision, though Dixon was reluctant to acknowledge his loss of the championship. Though outweighing him by nine pounds, he lost the title to Dixon in a twenty round points decision in Brooklyn on March 24, 1897, having held it only four months. Already nearing the featherweight maximum after his loss of the title to George Dixon, Erne began fighting in the lightweight division, meeting George "Kid" Lavigne for his first Lightweight Title bout on September 28, 1898 in Brooklyn. The twenty round draw would not determine a new champion. In one of the most important bouts of his career, he took the world lightweight title from Kid Lavigne on July 3, 1899 in a twenty round points decision before an enthusiastic home crowd in Buffalo. Looking back on Erne's critical win twenty years earlier, the St. Petersburg Times noted that Erne was more known for his speed and scientific skills than power, recalling that Lavigne had lost the title to "light hitting Frank Erne." This description of Erne was more accurate when he faced his most gifted opponents. In a fight that some historians consider a greater show of skill than his two championship title wins, he successfully defended the lightweight title at New York's Broadway Athletic Club in a close bout against the incomparable lightweight Joe Gans on March 23, 1900. According to BoxRec, Gans had asked the fight to be stopped in the ninth round after being injured by an accidental headbutt from Erne. Other sources wrote that Erne had held a decisive edge in the bout, and continuously battered Gans in the face, before Gans finally ended the fight fearing permanent damage to his eye. No headbutt was mentioned in their account. On July 16, 1900, Erne faced lightweight legend Terry McGovern in Madison Square Garden in New York. Erne had superior reach and height over McGovern, but according to most boxing writers, had not demonstrated the ability to consistently connect with the power of McGovern. Erne's ring generalship with his best opponents, was a slow, and deliberate strategy which took longer to end a fight. As the Bridgeport Herald wrote before the fight, "Erne's fights have been longer than Terry's as his record shows. He is not the finisher that Terry is. He is a point decision fighter more properly speaking and McGovern is a knockerout." Though putting McGovern down in the first round, Erne was down three times in the third before his cornermen ended the fight. Offered here is an original cabinet card of Frank Erne as he looked at the height of his career by noted photographer John Wood of New York.

FULL DESCRIPTION: This is an original cabinet card of Frank Erne in full fight pose. Photographer stamp for J. Wood of New York on lower mount along with the written namr Frank Erne. Bold image. Minor spotting. Not creased or torn. 4 1/4" x 6 1/2." Rare.